Hej everyone!

Today, I want to share my journey of searching for my Master’s thesis project and offer some insights to help you be prepared.

As you may know, I’m currently enrolled in the Applied Ethology and Animal Biology Master’s program at Linköping University. I’ve just finished my first year, which means I’m now starting to work on my Master’s thesis project. We have a full year to develop it, but let’s rewind to when I didn’t have a topic yet.

First, it’s important to know that the course coordinator will provide all the bureaucratic information during the first semester (or most of it). However, you are primarily responsible for your thesis project. This means you need to find an internal supervisor (someone from the University) and an external supervisor if you’re conducting your research outside the University or country. Despite this, there will always be someone to ensure you have a project by the deadline.

I began my search with a blank piece of paper, dividing it into animals I wanted to work with and areas of ethology I was interested in researching. Then, the Director of Studies published a list of potential supervisors and their research areas. We were encouraged to contact these supervisors if their expertise aligned with our interests. If we wanted something different, we had to seek out researchers independently. A good tip is to talk to your professors; they often mention ongoing research in other areas that might interest you. You can also ask if they know someone working in the area you’re interested in.

Initially, your expectations might be high, and that’s completely normal. If you haven’t done research before, you might have grand ideas that aren’t feasible within the time or resources available for a thesis. Don’t worry, professors are excellent at helping you refine your ideas and determining if they’re practical. Just stay positive and keep brainstorming new ideas!

At the beginning, I felt completely lost. I didn’t have a specific area or animal I wanted to study, so I scheduled many meetings with different professors to learn about their research. For example, I had meetings about clinical environments and cats, cognition in bees and wasps, and discrimination tests in primates. Eventually, I settled on magnetic fields and turtles—one of the animals on my initial list.

I started contacting various researchers in mid-November, aiming to have a topic and supervisor by January. I found my topic in December. In January, I worked closely with my supervisor, exchanging ideas and testing materials we thought we would use. He encouraged me to prepare early, so I began reading many papers and working on my proposal (a document needed for the examiner to approve your project).

Now, I’ve applied for a scholarship, bought my tickets (as I’ll be conducting my research outside Sweden), completed my proposal and risk assessment, and I’m just waiting for this adventure to begin!

To give you an idea, some of my colleagues had a clear idea of their research topic from the start, others knew they wanted to work with a specific species or topic, and some, like me, were initially unsure. Most of us had numerous meetings to refine our ideas, which is completely normal. Some found their topic within a month, others took longer, and a few changed their minds after choosing a topic. So, don’t worry! Keep your motivation high, and always be polite and grateful for the help you receive.

I hope this information helps!

Thanks for reading!

/Leonor, Applied Ethology and Animal Biology

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